Early BCS projections: Boise State #1, Oregon #2

Agree 110%. I was just responding to your post asking if they beat a ranked team.

I think they likely deserve #1 at this point since they've at least played the Beavs and V-Tech and some OK marshmallows. The Ducks basically played cream puffs and Stanford. That said, as you said it is only up for the Ducks as they play USC, Cal, Arizona, etc. and BSU goes on to play nobody except Nevada, who may be no better than USC or Cal as far as that goes.

 

Would you put your money on Boise if they played the Ducks on a neutral field? Would you REALLY put them at #1?

 

The analysts are so full of shit. This blowhard on ESPN is going on about how Oregon isn't as good as OSU because they had trouble with WSU. Never once did he mention that Thomas went down with an injury, or that Barner was taken to the hospital. Nearly half the top players were injured at some point during that game. Does that get a mention? No. And despite all the injuries, they STILL crushed WSU by 20. I don't understand the hate.

 

Probably not. BSU does have a knack for getting up for big games (like their 1-2 hard games annually along with a bowl game). So they've mastered the art of just over-achieving, but on a neutral field, I can't see BSU staying with the Ducks for four quarters as they simply are on another level this year.

That said, I would put BSU #1 based on the information we have to date. I think the Ducks have shown me more when I look at dominating teams in second halves (which is really when it matters in CFB) but they don't have the W/L resume BSU has. So I think it is one of those things where you give BSU the nod not based on who you think might be better, but who they've played and the W/L record, and knowing that BSU has nobody left to beat, so the Ducks will earn their way above BSU by simply beating powerhouse teams (like USC, Arizona, Cal, etc.) from here on out.

 

Bingo. Points out how flawed the rankings are. All the top 25 teams can beat each other on any given day.

 

Va Tech has won 4 in a row and the Beavs just won at UA. I think BSU's wins are more impressive than the Ducks at this point without question.

 

So if the Ducks crush OSU, will they be better than BSU in your eyes?

 

What analyst(s) was it?

 

VTech also lost to a 1-AA school. They aren't ranked, which isn't impressive. Not so sure that BSU would beat Stanford by 21 either. Look at margin of victory and opponents Oregon has beat. Its not even a question.

 

But, they aren't. So thats pointless.

 

VaTech had 5 days after their loss to BSU before playing James Madison. They obviously had a letdown. Oregon beat Stanford by 21 at Oregon.

 

So if the Beavs crush the Ducks will they be better than UofO in your eyes?

 

Without a doubt. If OSU was undefeated, that would have meant they beat BSU in Boise and TCU in Dallas as well. If that doesn't make a team #1, then I don't know what would.

 

What does that have to do with the argument? You are saying that BSU is better than UO because of SOS. You think that wins over OSU and VT are more impressive than Stanford or Tennessee. So my question was along those lines. If Oregon beats OSU as well, couple with their wins over Stanford and Tennessee, does that make them better than Boise State? Who gives a shit about the Beavers. They're not in the championship picture so they're not even relevant to this debate. Get back to me when you're relevant again.

 

I disagree. The pollsters would use the Beavers wins against BSU and TCU and marginalize Oregon State's wins over them. BSU and TCU would barely be in the top 25 in that scenario, so Oregon State would still probably be languishing somewhere between #8 and #12.

That's why you can't win in games vs. Non "Big 6" teams. If you beat them, well, you were supposed to beat them because they suck. If you lose to them, well, they still aren't very good so you must be horrible.

 

Which makes you wonder they schools like Oregon or OSU would schedule games against them in the first place....

 

Good point. Hasn't happened so it is pretty worthless to try and figure out the "what if" scnearios. But I'd have to agree that BSU and TCU would have lose some of their top team stature had they lost to OSU.

That said, they've destroyed every team they've faced, and BSU would have beat a #10 V-Tech on the road going into that OSU game, so BSU and TCU would be hovering around 13th-18th in the standings with a loss given their other impressive wins.

Since OSU started top-25, beating a 13th-18th ranked BSU & TCU, along with Louisville would have likely got them launched up to the top 6-8 right out of the chute (remember BSU and TCU are no longer up there, so the only other teams above them are the big program undefeated teams). Then beating ASU and a top-10 Arizona would probably have them really getting noticed while teams like Florida, Stanford, then Bama were losing. So I'd probably say in hindsight going through it week-by-week, you're right, the BSU/TCU being discredited would likely have landed them only around #3 or #4 at this point. Good call.

 

You, being a ducks fan, should. You have to beat us, in Corvallis, to be relevant.

The ducks won't be relevant to the discussion if they can't beat "irrelevant OSU".